The Prophecy: Appendices
by VikingSong
Summary: All the things for 'The Prophecy' fic that one would expect to find in the Appendix at the end of one's favorite fantasy novel (in-universe artifacts, maps and world-building, context, short stories/vignettes/deleted scenes, etc.), consolidated here for ease of reference.
1. Appendix A: Maps & World-Building

**Appendix A:  
Location Parallels and Calculating Travel Time**

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**A map is finally ready!**

There is now a map for this fic which basically overlays the prop maps used in the series plus my AU additions onto a modern map of England and Wales. It's posted on** my deviantART account **(username is _vikingsong_, same as here), entitled **"The Prophecy: Appendices (Appendix A)." ** Additional details about specific plot & location correlations are below.

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**Location parallels for Ch 78 & 79 (since these are particularly relevant to plot and themes):**

For the purposes of this fic, the location of the Fortress of Níþdraca (the Fortress of the Fisher King in the Perilous Lands) corresponds roughly to the modern city of Leeds (in West Yorkshire, UK).

The underground river and cave network correspond to the River Aire, which cuts a meandering 15-mile route southeast from Leeds to the town of Castleford before the River Caulder joins from the west and the combined river flows eastward (though not currently through a ravine). After fording the river there, Arthur, Merlin, and the knights crossed a plain and ended up in the Forest of Engred.

The place in the Forest of Engred where Arthur learns that Merlin is Balinor's son corresponds roughly to the modern location of Pontefract, roughly a league (~3 miles) southeast of Castleford. Pontefract is a municipality whose history stretches back to the Middle Ages and whose name translates from French to English as "broken bridge." Scattered across this area are a number of small areas designated as "ancient woods," according to conservation standards in the UK, from which I'm extrapolating a larger, contiguous ancient wood that might have covered most of that area a thousand years ago.

My favorite factoid from my research and map-geekery is Pontefract's town motto (a reference to Charles II and the English Civil War), "_Post mortem patris pro filio_," which roughly translates from Latin as "After the death of the father, support the son." It is here that Merlin grieves for Balinor and also where the bridge of trust between Merlin and Arthur is broken just as Aredian attacks.

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**\- Maps -**

_Again, there is a **map for this fic** which basically overlays the prop maps used in the series onto a modern map of England and Wales. It's posted on my deviantART account (username is vikingsong, same as here), entitled "The Prophecy: Appendices (Appendix A)." __Dodgy canon geographic references + even more dodgy references from wider Arthurian canon + selected bits of ~1100 years of history + a very liberal dash of literary license = one extensive and very colorful map which is historically inaccurate for any given point in time but overall not really any worse than canon was to begin with! I'm going to add another more detailed map in the near future which will include specific cities and landmarks from canon and AU. In the meantime, the list below includes the relevant correlations._

_To give credit where credit is due, I found **versaphile**'s fan-made map and associated reference info—which are posted on AO3 as **"MAP: Atlas of the Kingdoms of Albion"** and can also be found via Pinterest and I think there may also be a Tumblr post—to be a particularly helpful resource when I was figuring out how to adapt the maps and reference points from canon onto real maps, both historical and modern._

**The biggest change for this fic from the canon maps is that I wanted Cenred's kingdom to line up with the wider Arthurian canon that associates Merlin with several sites in Wales, including Carmarthen. To make this work, I effectively _**flipped Cenred's kingdom from Camelot's eastern border to its western border**_. Sorry, BBC, it just makes more sense that way for this fic. Yes, I know it throws off the naming patterns (the linguistic root of Essetir correlates with Essex) and it wouldn't make sense to have the Saxons invading from the west rather than the east, but in my defense, canon was a tossed salad of several centuries' worth of historical figures, kingdoms, fashion, weaponry, and languages, plus a dollop of fantasy-inspired #aesthetic vinaigrette on top, so I frankly don't feel bad for this particular bit of artistic license.**

**Camelot** (citadel and city) = London, England

**Glastonbury** (Elyan's village) and the Lake of Avalon = (obviously) the vicinity of Glastonbury, England

**Border between Camelot and Cenred's kingdom**; also called the **Ridge of Essetir** = a very loose stand-in for the border between England and Wales

**Ealdor** = somewhere in the northern bit of Monmouthshire, Wales, just across the border from England

'neighboring **Carmarthen**,' about a day's ride from Ealdor = (again, obviously) Carmarthen, Wales

**Mold**, the last scrap of civilization before the Perilous Lands = Mold in northern Wales (south-southwest of Liverpool)

The **Perilous Lands** = the following counties in England: Lancashire, West Yorkshire, and the western half of North Yorkshire

The **Fortress of Níþdraca** = Kirkstall Abbey (in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, as described in more detail above, along with relevant surrounding sites)

The **Northern Plains** = for the purposes of this fic, it's basically the middle portion of England (with the except of the Peak District), bounded by/including the following counties: Herefordshire (southwest), Cheshire (northwest), Lincolnshire (northeast), and Cambridgeshire (southeast)

The **Impenetrable Forest** = the Peak District in England

**Kingdom of Mercia** = eastward from Castleford, West Yorkshire, England; includes the southern arm/peninsula of North Yorkshire plus all of East Yorkshire, England

**Kingdom of Deira** = the eastern half of North Yorkshire, England

City where **Alator and the Catha** are based = somewhere in the northernmost corner of Scotland in what was the historic county of Caithness, just south of the Orkney Islands

**Kingdom of Caerleon** = southernmost section of Wales (including Brecon Beacons National Park, Cardiff, and Caerleon in the greater Newport area), but does not include Carmarthen and anything north of it (as per earlier note about Carmarthen being in Cenred's kingdom) or the northern half of Monmouthshire (also per the earlier note about the approximate location of Ealdor)

**Gedref** (both the region and the Labyrinth) = county of Hampshire, England

The **Isle of the Blessed** = Steep Holm, an island in the Bristol Channel (Welsh: Ynys Rhonech; "Rhonech" apparently translates loosely as "give" in English...so I'm making a linguistic leap between the concepts of _gifts/to give_ and _blessings/to bless_ to make this correlation viable)

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**\- Distances and Travel Times -**

For purposes of measurements and estimates in this fic, a league is presumed to be approximately 3 miles and a 'pace' is between 2.5-3 feet.

*_Side note: Yes, I'm American, so I'm more comfortable estimating distances in feet & miles because that's how I've learned to quantify and experience distance. I have a clear sense of what it feels like to run 2 miles or drive 200 miles, but talking about running 3.2km or driving 320km evoke no memories or points of reference...so my apologies for this Appendix to readers in the rest of the world who use the much more logical metric system for everything! (I will, however, stand by the logic of Fahrenheit over Celsius in reporting weather conditions, but that's another argument for another day.)_*

Travel on foot is presumed to be 1 league per hour (3 miles per hour). For the sake of easy estimates and rounding, the assumption is that travelers on foot can cover 8 leagues or 25 miles in a day, assuming that they will then camp for the night if it's a multi-day journey (i.e. A "four days' journey" on foot is approx 100 miles or 32+ leagues). Exceptions: travel on foot through difficult terrain (bogs, caves/slippery ground, seriously inclement weather, deep snow or mud) is presumed to be 1/3 to 1/2 as fast as usual (so only 1-1.5 miles per hour or 1/3 to 1/2 of a league per hour; approx 8-12 miles per day).

Travel on horseback is presumed to be twice as fast as on foot (2 leagues per hour or 6 miles per hour) over long distances, although short sprints would obviously be much faster. Travelers on horseback can therefore cover 50 miles per 24-hr day on sustained journeys (i.e. A "four days' ride" is approx 200 miles or approx 64+ leagues). However, travelers on horseback can cover more ground in a shorter period of time by riding more hours per day and/or swapping out horses along the way - the horses' point of exhaustion is the rate-limiting factor in these cases.

Ambrosius the hawk, by contrast, can cover distances much faster than travelers on foot or on horseback. For the purposes of this fic, he can cover ground twice as fast as travelers on horseback (that is, 4 leagues or 12 miles per hour). This means he can go 100 miles in a day. However, this is compounded by the fact that he doesn't really have to stop to sleep - he can get by just fine with his power naps at either destination, so he can theoretically travel for the entirety of the 24-hour day+night, allowing him to do a "four days' ride" in 24 hours (200 miles or 64+ leagues).

**tl;dr -** In a journey of 200 miles (64+ leagues), Elyan hiking through slimy, claustrophobic caves will take 16 days to reach his destination, while Merlin walking on level forest trails will get there in 8 days. Arthur on horseback will get there in only 4 days (and then spend the next 4 complaining until Merlin catches up). Leaving them all in the dust, Ambrosius will get there in a mere 24 hours.


	2. Appendix B: Spells - Methodology

**Appendix B:**

**Spells - Methodology and Resources**

For _The Prophecy_, I either used spells from canon directly (courtesy of the Merlin Wiki page) or I created my own, piecemeal, using Old English translation and linguistics resources. I want to give credit where credit is due, while also explaining the methodology I used. Since this doesn't fit neatly into any one chapter A/N, it gets its own Appendix here! There's also an assortment of color-commentary

My goal has been to add authentic flavor to the fic without being limited to the canon spells. I've done the best I can with the help of a couple of really great resources, but I'm confident I've still gotten _lots_ of things wrong. When in doubt, I just presumed modern English syntax rules to fill in the _massive_ gaps in my OE knowledge. My sincere apologies if there happen to be any cringing scholars/linguists reading this fic! (And if you can help me to do better, please let me know! I'm always eager to learn!)

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A Running List of **Obscure Things Learned** and** Nerdy Speculations** with regard to Old English (and other linguistic things) in the course of this writing project:

**1) **Old English evidently did not rely on word order to indicate meaning (the way that modern English does). So on the one hand, that means not having to learn a bunch of implicit syntax rules (yay!) and not having to repeatedly rephrase sentences to avoid ambiguity because _pronouns_. But, on the other hand, it means—unlike modern English—that **noun declensions are a _thing_ in OE**. (Incidentally, I ended up teaching myself about noun declensions during the course of writing this fic. So there's that.)

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**2) **The Medieval Lit class I took in undergrad has proved surprisingly useful over the course of this project (even though most of the material we read was in Middle English, not Old English). It's been interesting to keep in mind what was happening historically and linguistically in the British Isles between ~500-1300AD. I've enjoyed trying to mesh together in my head **how the fantasy/quasi-historical setting of the series could work with both historical and linguistic landmarks**:

_Was the Norman Conquest in 1066 (and the subsequent switch to Norman French as the language of government and formal literature) the point at which the Old Religion—like Old English—was supplanted and relegated to the common people?_ _Will the__ Golden Age of Albion mark the resurgence of English—Middle English, specifically—in formal literature and courtly life, as a blending of the old and new ways once magic is formally restored to Camelot? _(This speculation presumes a later medieval setting of the series, ~12th century or later, perhaps with Arthur as a contemporary of historical Geoffrey of Monmouth).

More importantly, though:_ How the heck is Old English the language of the "Old" religion if the Saxons (who actually spoke a precursor to/variant of Old English) haven't invaded/conquered Albion yet?! This is especially problematic if (and it's a big if) a historical Arthur actually existed, because he would most likely have lived in the era when the Saxons were first invading, so he would have spoken a language/dialect (probably in the Brythonic language family?) that was even 'older' than the language the Saxons brought with them! (And don't get me started on the runes engraved on Excalibur...)_

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**3) **So, let's talk **linguistics in costuming and world-building**. Alator of the Catha has a Scottish accent. "Catha" bears some resemblance to Cath/Caithness, a historical county in the very far north tip of Scotland. So far, so good, right? Those symbols on the front of Alator's costume in the series? They're **Ogham**—the ancient script used by several ancient languages (although it sounds like it's possible the script predates the languages we know it was used for), including Pictish, Old Irish, and Scottish Gaelic. The Catha are supposed to have secret skills known only to initiates. What a perfect opportunity to use one of those languages, right?

(_Well, not maybe not Pictish because it's a dead language and only fragments remain, I think, but it's in the Brythonic language family, so they could've just used a related language instead—like, say, Cornish or Breton or—oh, how about Welsh? The series is partially filmed in Wales, after all...how hard would it really be to mix in a little Old Welsh? If not Old Welsh, then even modern Welsh would be acceptable. After all, the Welsh parliament is on a mission to increase the daily usage of Welsh across Wales, so including it in TV series with wide international appeal isn't a half-bad idea, right? Or if it seems counterintuitive to have a Scots/Pictish character speaking Old Welsh, then Scottish Gaelic would fit just as well. I'm not picky, honestly._)

So did the show's creative team capitalize on this exciting opportunity? The same team who went to the effort to construct a substantial amount of dialogue (spells) in another dead language (Old English)? Nope! They used the actual Ogham script **_to write nonsense syllables on Alator's tunic_**. *_flips tables_* (Again, don't get me started on the runes engraved on Excalibur.)

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**4)** Speaking of Welsh...for the sake of worldbuilding and for the reasons mentioned above regarding older languages in the region, **I've decorated the Druid sub-culture in this fic with some Welsh words/idioms** to reflect the fact that some of the myths and lore that've been handed down are of Welsh origin (the bard Taliesin, The Mabinogion, even the name _Emrys_, as well as the older versions of the common character names, like Merlin=_Myrddin_), so it makes sense to me that the Druids would come from that cultural tradition for the purposes of this fic, and as such, they'd be well-equipped to be the keepers of the oral tradition, to recognize Merlin as the prophesied _Emrys_, and have been driven underground as a marginalized, conquered culture under Uther's Purge, like the Brythonic peoples were subjugated by the Anglo-Saxon invaders, who were themselves later subjugated by William the Conqueror and his Norman French court (see above as well). My personal knowledge of Welsh is very limited (but improving—thanks, Duolingo!), but I'm doing my best :)

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For **finding Old English words based on meaning/translation**, I have found the following to be an invaluable resource:

oldenglishtranslator dot co dot uk

In most cases, I've taken a verb from that Old English Translator and used the imperative conjugation, so that the simple spells are one-word commands (singular or plural depending on who or what is being commanded).

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When I started wanting to create slightly more complicated spells, such as including direct or indirect objects, using prepositional phrases, or specifying the person or object being commanded, I realized I needed to know more about **how Old English functioned grammatically and syntactically**. (Spoiler alert: It's NOT like modern English!)

I've found the following to be incredibly helpful:

lrc dot la dot utexas dot edu slash eieol slash engol

Thanks to that resource from the Linguistics Research Center at UT-Austin, I have been able to utilize more of the information from the Old English Translator resource described above, such as the noun declension charts.


	3. Appendix C: Deleted Scene (Marrock-Ylva)

**A/N:**

**I present, for your enjoyment, a deleted scene from _The Prophecy_.**

I came up with this scene in the middle of working on Chapter 86/87 but quickly realized it didn't fit well into the chronology there. Since this scene isn't essential to the plot, I decided not to go back and update Chapter 83 (where it would fit chronologically but not thematically). Plus, it's a scene between two OCs, which is not every reader's cup of tea.

But I just liked how it turned out, honestly, so I'm sharing it here instead.

Chronologically, this scene occurs after Chapter 82 (Morgana overhears Marrock and Gareth) and concurrent with parts of Chapters 83 (Gaius and Morgana talk) and Chapter 84 (Gwen hears the bad news).

**Deleted Scene: Marrock and Ylva**

"Ylva?" Marrock called softly as he stumbled, utterly exhausted, through the door of his home in the upper town a few hours before dawn. It wasn't much by nobility's standards—easily dwarfed by the noble homes on either side, nestled between them like an afterthought—but it was _theirs_. Soon it would be filled with the laughter of their child—hopefully the first of many with his Ylva. Even after more than a year of marriage and despite being tired to the bone, his heart had still raced like a wild colt as he had approached their door. "Ylva?" he called again, a bit louder, as he shut the door behind him and unbuckled his swordbelt.

_I don't want to startle her_—_it's the middle of the night, after all, and she wasn't expecting me back in Camelot so soon._

Sure, it would have been perfectly reasonable to crash in the castle barracks until dawn, but—even dead on his feet—Marrock knew there was _no way_ he'd be able to sleep in a bunk, not when he was so close to home, to _her_.

"Marrock?"

He turned in time to see her step hesitantly through the doorway from their bedroom, wrapped tightly in her dressing gown and brandishing a heavy candlestick defensively. Her eyes lit up when she saw him. "You're home!" she cried, dropping the candlestick and flinging herself across the room at him. He swept her into a tight embrace.

"I thought you wouldn't be home for months—maybe not until after the birth," she whispered against his chainmaille as he held her close.

"It's...a long story," he said softly, stroking her blonde hair as it fell in loose waves around her shoulders.

"Then you shall have to tell me everything..._later_," she said as she unclasped his cloak, letting it fall to the ground as she stood on tiptoe to draw him into a kiss.

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Marrock woke, squinting, as golden morning light filtered in through the leaded glass window in their room. He rolled away from the offending light which had so rudely disturbed him—but quickly reformed his opinion on it when he saw the way it made his Ylva glow, nestled in their bed beside him. He propped himself up on one elbow and reached out to stroke her shoulder gently. The soft linen of her shift was warm beneath his fingers.

The one bright spot in the turmoil of the past week was that he was home—with her, with their growing child—much sooner than he could have hoped or imagined once the king had decided to embark on a siege of Níþdraca. Ylva shifted sleepily, opened her eyes, and smiled up at him. A moment later, though, her smile faded.

"Marrock?" she asked, her voice still thick with sleep. "What is it?"

He didn't answer right away. She raised herself up on one elbow to mirror him, concern flickering through her eyes.

Marrock had always prided himself on his adherence to the Knights' Code, both in his professional and personal life. He had never lied to Ylva; he certainly didn't want to start now.

_But do I dare share my thoughts about the skirmish?_

He knew he was skirting dangerously close to treason, more and more so as he had mulled things over on the miserable ride back to Camelot.

_Dare I make her complicit by being honest now?_

But if he did what he was considering...

_It would put her—put our child—at risk._

If he should act, if he should be caught, it would affect their futures even more than his. He couldn't do that to her, to them—not without her consent.

_Especially not when it was for their sakes that Leon and Merlin showed mercy._

He sighed and gently tucked a wayward strand of her soft hair behind her ear.

"Do you truly wish to know?" he asked, hesitant. "It could be...dangerous to hear."

Ylva hesitated for the barest moment as her eyes widened, but she nodded with conviction as she spoke.

"I want no secrets between us—I don't wish for you to bear your troubles alone."

He nodded and dropped his voice to little more than a whisper.

"Leon defected to join Arthur and his companions, less than a week ago—"

Her eyes widened but she didn't interrupt.

"—Then Uther attacked the fortress outright. The Fisher King created a diversion while Arthur and the others escaped, but Aredian led a group of us to intercept them. There was a...skirmish."

He paused and wrapped his hand around hers.

"I...Ylva, I very nearly didn't make it home."

Tears welled up in her eyes and slipped down her cheeks; she squeezed his hand tightly.

"I'm only alive because my life was spared that morning...twice."

"Twice?" she whispered.

"Leon had me at his mercy, at the point of his blade, but he _begged _me to yield because he wanted me to make it home to you," he said quietly, then moved his hand to rest on the blankets covering her rounding stomach, "To _both _of you."

"Leon, he..." she began, her hushed voice catching in her throat, "He always was a _good man_."

Marrock nodded. It was true. It was also true that Leon had betrayed the king, had sided with an enemy of the crown. He didn't know how to reconcile those two ideas, but that didn't make them any less true.

Ylva's whispered question pulled him out of his paradoxical thoughts.

"You said...you said 'twice.'"

Marrock nodded, dropping his voice even further. _The moment of truth_, he thought. _No going back after this_.

"And...Merlin showed me mercy as well."

"...Merlin?"

"Merlin, uh, he's a sorcerer...and a powerful one at that," Marrock said.

Her eyes widened in shock, much as he'd expected—but there was something else, something about her reaction that seemed off.

_I can't put my finger on it, though. Best to keep going before I lose my nerve to tell her everything._

"He killed Lucan and Bedivere with a single spell."

He swallowed thickly at the memory of the two young knights dropping suddenly to the ground, lifeless, with their swords still in their hands. It had haunted him, waking and sleeping, ever since.

"Ylva, there aren't words to describe _how easily_ he could have killed _all _of us in defense of Arthur. It would have been in his best interest to leave no witnesses, to ensure their escape and cover their trail. But he didn't. And I couldn't figure out why."

He looked down, taking Ylva's hand again and playing with the thin gold band around her finger.

"So I asked him why—"

Ylva inhaled sharply and he quickly clarified.

"I mean _later_, when no one else could hear, when I was guarding him after Aredian captured him."

She nodded, relief evident, and waited as he gathered his thoughts.

"I asked him why he _only _killed them—why not the rest of us."

"What did he say?"

"He said because they didn't have families," he whispered. He was sure there were tears in his eyes now, too, but it was Ylva, so he didn't have to hide them. "He spared me because of _you_."

Therein lay the second paradox. Mercy was something good men showed to their enemies; it was something born from the union of justice and compassion. It was not something evil men—_evil sorcerers_—showed to Knights of Camelot.

_Merlin's a sorcerer, a traitor. But he showed us mercy anyway...and now he's dying because of it._

Ylva looked at him searchingly.

"There's more, isn't there?"

He nodded. "Arthur was injured but managed to escape with Leon and the rest of the fugitives. But Merlin...he was injured before he was captured. He's in the dungeons now."

Again, there was something in her reaction, fleeting, that he couldn't identify. He pushed the thought aside.

_I need to tell her the rest first._

"Ylva," he said, slowly, hesitantly, "By the Knights' Code, I owe both Leon _and _Merlin a life debt."

She nodded. As always, she understood his meaning immediately.

"So what will you do?" she asked.

"I...I don't know, exactly. But I need to decide quickly—Merlin may not last the week; his injury is grave. Even were it not so, he will certainly be executed once Aredian is finished with him."

She looked at him for a long moment. At last, she said, "I'm glad you told me. You, my love, are a _good man_." She looked down at their joined hands. "So I know you will make the right decision in time."

Marrock felt buoyed on a wave of relief at her support even as his stomach sunk like a stone at the plan now forming in his mind.

"I have an idea...but I will need your help."

**A/N:**

**I hope you enjoyed this little deleted scene! Read Chapter 87 ****to see Marrock and Ylva put their plan in motion!**

Nerdy research-related notes:

'Marrock' is my alternate spelling of a 'Sir Marrok,' who was mentioned in passing in Sir Thomas Malory's _Le Morte D'Arthur_ (during a laundry-list of knights who participated in a particular story arc).

I originally snagged that name back when I was writing Chapter 78's skirmish and purely needed names to demonstrate that Merlin knew each of the knights they were fighting well enough to know their families, too, in order to make his fighting decisions more difficult and personal. I wasn't planning to develop any of those knights at the time; I just needed minor knights from the larger canon who had canon families and didn't already have BBC _Merlin_ roles that would interfere with being present at this particular skirmish. 'Lucan' and 'Bedivere' were brothers and didn't expressly have wives/children mentioned that I could find (though I realized later that BBC's _Merlin_ already had a Sir Bedivere who'd been red-shirted at the beginning of the Questing Beast story arc...oh well); 'Gareth' was a knight who rescued and became engaged to a lady named Lyonesse (and it sounds like he may have been a bit hot-headed, too).

I grabbed the name 'Marrok' purely on the grounds that he was apparently married in Malory's canon, which was all I really needed at the time. Next to nothing is said about him in Malory, save for this line: "...Sir Marrok, the good knight that was betrayed by his wife, for she made him seven year a werewolf..."

So when I later had a subplot-simplifying reason for his wife to appear as well, I chose a name for her that means 'wolf' for my own personal amusement. However, this Marrock is not a werewolf, nor will his wife Ylva turn him into one. I just like squeezing in (usually obscure) literary references any way I can. ;)

I ended up spelling Sir Marrok's name incorrectly as 'Marrock' during my first draft, but by the time I caught it, I was already used to it that way and decided to keep it. I figure, if _Percival_, _Perceval_, and _Parzival_ are all valid spellings of one character's name across different pieces of the larger Arthurian canon, then I have the right to add a 'c' to 'Marrok' if I want to! :)


	4. Appendix D: Prophecies and Lore

**A/N:** Please note that, as of 6/18/20, spoilers for anything that occurs after Ch 96 have been redacted. This will be updated as subsequent chapters are posted. :)

**Appendix D: Prophecies and Lore****  
**_(in-world artifact)_

A Compendium of Lore Concerning the Golden Age of Albion

_as humbly compiled by  
_Sir Percival,  
Lord of Sheffield in the Northern Plains  
_-and-_  
Eorl Drustan,  
Lore-Keeper of the Stanton Moor Druids in the Impenetrable Forest

These words of prophecy and lore have been gathered  
from first-hand accounts or passed down through oral tradition.  
We have rendered them here, in as accurate a manner as we may,  
so that the lore and legend may be preserved in both word and letter,  
that these stories may 'live long in the minds of men.'

-Sir Percival and Eorl Drustan

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**The Prophecy of the Once and Future King**  
_"__Mab pen y ddraig a'r arglwydd draig olaf__," as translated by Rhiannon, Lore-Keeper of the Stanton Moor Druids, as she first taught it to her grandson Drustan_

_The Head-Dragon's son and the last Dragonlord  
__Two sides of one coin they shall be.  
__For the fathers imprisoned a dragon  
__But the sons shall set it free._

_The old ways restored, by both spell and by sword;  
__The five kingdoms' wars_ _they shall cease.  
__For by Courage, by Strength, and by Magic,  
__The land at last shall know peace._

_The ages shall pass but the stories shan't fade—  
__They'll live long in the minds of men:  
__Of a golden king in a golden age  
__And peace across Albion._

_In the land's hour of need, a call shall go out—  
__Across time and memory 'twill ring.  
__And Magic shall greet the welcome return  
__Of the Once and Future King._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Blōtmonath**

In Blōtmonath, as autumn dies  
'Twixt crimson foes, 'neath crimson skies  
As air is rent with fell beasts' cries  
One king falls and another king flies

The truth will out; 'twill burn your lies  
In ashes, mourn, for sever'd ties  
Broken be bridges, bones, and guise  
Yet from the ashes, true form shall rise.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Courage, Strength, and Magic**  
_(also known colloquially as "The Courage Limerick")_

_Listen apace to a tale oh most tragic,  
__Such as would drive one to wax elegiac:  
__His friends he would spurn  
_'_Til at last he did learn  
__Courage is nothing without Strength and Magic._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**The Words of Rhiannon, Lore-Keeper and Seer**

To Arthur Pendragon, The Once and Future King, at their first meeting:  
_Sire, you have shown that you are already fit to be a better king than your father._  
_Our hopes go with you even as they go with Emrys._

The Legend of the Sigil-Bearers, as told to Sir Leon de Ganys, Knight of Camelot and of the Round Table:  
_In days of old, the Sidhe were more forward in their interactions with the world of men. The magic of the Sidhe was—and is—some of the most powerful in existence. It is not easily thwarted. Intrepid men sought out the Sidhe, seeking to broker deals with them. Most asked for power or wealth, but a few sought more...practical...gifts, not for themselves, but for their sons. In exchange, those men paid a steep price—their own lives in exchange for a Sigil, such as the one you bear._

_The three circles come from the three arms of the Sidhe triskelion, placed in protection over an undying tree. It is not luck, far from it. It is powerful magic, for which your forebearer paid a heavy price._

_How many battles have you survived when all others perished? How many times have you escaped by chance or cheated death by a hair's breadth? Men of the House of Ganys cannot die 'before their time,' as it were, but they are not immortal. There is only one Emrys, after all._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Gaius' Concise Summaries of Assorted Legends and Lore  
**with gratitude for contributions by Morgana Pendragon, High Priestess and **[REDACTED]**

Spoken to Morgana, regarding Emrys:  
_It was said that you and Emrys would be opposites—darkness against light, hatred against love. Until a month ago, all the seers and sages thought you were destined to become an enemy, a nemesis to Arthur—whom Merlin had sworn to protect._

Spoken to Morgana, regarding magical signatures:  
_Legend says it's possible to read signatures, but very few are said to have mastered that ability. Only the most powerful Seers or the high priests and priestesses of old were said to have that power. Even then, it's said to take years to harness that particular gift._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**The Pompous Pronouncements and Proverbs of Kilgharrah, the Great Dragon  
**with gratitude for contributions by Morgana Pendragon, High Priestess and **[REDACTED] **

Spoken to Morgana, regarding her destiny after the Great Shift:  
_Destiny shifted not two days ago._  
_Many paths were broken and reforged._  
_Not two days ago, your destiny was as certain as snow on the mountains._  
_Now, well, it shifts and swirls like fog upon the moors._  
_Its final form is yet to be Seen._

-and-

_Take heed, young witch,_  
_For your new path lies as the edge of a dagger's blade—_  
_Stray but a little and you will fall._

_-and-_

_I have Seen turbulence during your regency._  
_The fate of Camelot rests on your shoulders, young witch,_  
_And on those of your young maid._  
_I cannot say more,_  
_Save that your loyalties will be tested and_  
_They will define the future rise or fall of Camelot._

To Morgana, regarding Emrys:  
_It is his secret alone to tell._  
_When the time is right_  
_And destiny reveals its true form,_  
_Then you shall know._

-and-

_Emrys and Arthur remained bound to one another—_  
_Two sides of the same coin, you see—_  
_And you remained bound to Emrys._

-and-

_We are kin, as you say,_  
_But he has to travel the path of his destiny,_  
_Just as you do._  
_Foreknowledge is a treacherous thing, young Seer._  
_The sooner you and Emrys learn that,_  
_The easier your paths will be._

-and-

_The old prophecies claimed that you were_  
_The darkness to Emrys' light,_  
_The hatred to his love._  
_While this old destiny has been broken and reforged,_  
_Its new form is still uncertain._  
_At the moment, you and Emrys still embody the latter traits._  
_He shows too much forbearance to those who oppose him,_  
_While you show too little._  
_Means matter, young witch._

-and-

_Young witch,_  
_I see that both of us are troubled tonight._  
_There has been a ripple through the magic of the world_  
_Which all creatures of magic have felt._  
_Young witch,_  
_It would seem we are both connected,_  
_In a way,_  
_To the Last of the Dragonlords._  
_We felt his fall._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**The Prophecy of the Restoration**  
_with gratitude for contributions by Merlin, who is called Emrys_

_(A note from the editors of this compendium: Although Merlin, who is called Emrys, has politely asked us not to, we consider it necessary for posterity to include his titles here in full: __The Might Emrys, Chief Advisor to the Once and Future King__, Supreme Court Warlock of Camelot, Honored Ambassador to the Druids, the Last Dragonlord, and _**[REDACTED]**_.)_

**[6/18/20: REDACTED]**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**The Phoenix**  
"_Se Fenix_" as translated by Eorl Drustan the Lore-Keeper  
(from the original "_Yr Ffenics, Emrys_" as compiled in the Triads)

**[6/18/20: REDACTED]**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**A/N:**

It's possible that additional prophecies and lore may be added to this Appendix as _The Prophecy_ progresses. :)


End file.
